Final Fantasy VIII: Politika
by the jester-in-exile
Summary: Post-game. Power struggles after the Sorceress War - the threats aren't always apocalyptic, but they are no less deadly.


**Final Fantasy VIII: Politika**

**Disclaimer:** Square Enix owns Final Fantasy VIII. This is a fan fiction.

**Chapter 1.** The Fated Children Victorious

Sudden and disorienting as it was before the battle against the Sorceress Ultimecia, no less was the return to the present.

Eight figures found themselves where and how they last remembered they were, inside the cavernous space in Lunatic Pandora. Each looked at one another, slowly, as though waking up from a common dream.

Not a dream; a nightmare.

But the nightmare was over - they had won. Didn't they?

"Guys?" said one of them says finally, standing up from a crouch, the tribal flame tattoo on his face stark against his fair skin and blonde hair. "Is it over?"

A woman giggles, and her hilarity is infectious. In moments, they were hugging, laughing, crying tears of joy. "Yes, Zell," says a beautiful blonde woman in spectacles, "it's over. We won."

They pause from their joy, and turn to their leader expectantly, who is standing apart as they knew he would be. They look past the scar on the handsome, almost beautiful, face of the brunette; they see his light blue eyes, often cold and expressionless in the past, twinkle with warmth and friendship. Impulsively, a petite girl rushes away from the group and hugs him tight; the leader takes the hug and spins her around. She giggles; he chuckles.

"You did it, Squall!" says the green-eyed brunette. "You did it!"

"No, Selphie, _we_ did it," Squall replies softly. He disengages gently from the hug, and turns to face the cowboy, who approaches with his hand offered, the grin on his face crinkling his green eyes. "Irvine."

They shake hands warmly. "Never doubted you for a second, boss."

"Never doubted us, Irvine."

"Yeah, right," Irvine replies affectionately, and Squall smiles, faintly embarrassed. "But we'll let that slide."

The two blondes join them next; Zell, grinning from ear to ear, offer his hand, saying, "Put it there, pal."

A small grin forms on Squall's lips; Zell's grin broadens as he pumps Squall's hand energetically. "Always knew you weren't all cold, man, always knew it."

"I know," Squall tells his best friend. "You always knew." He turns to the other, and shakes her hand as well. "Quistis."

Quistis smiles and sighs; she is beautiful. "Congratulations, Commander."

"To all of us, Quistis." Quistis steps aside, making room for the raven-haired girl fidgeting close by, finally nudging her to move closer to Squall. A heartbeat pause, and she says, "Um, I don't know what to else to say, Squall..."

"I do, Rinoa." Rinoa looks up at Squall, startled. He smiles faintly. "Thank you for saving me."

As if struggling against some inner battle, she finally touches his shoulder. "You like me now, don't you?"

"Yes."

Rinoa gives in, and grabs the front of his jacket, pulling Squall close. "I was so scared when I saw you lying there, like you were... Don't ever, ever, EVER, do that to me again, do you understand me? EVER!"

Squall embraces her; Rinoa feels him chuckle, and shoves him back. She raises a finger. "Do you understand me, Squall? You do not EVER do THAT to me AGAIN!"

"Whoa, easy, there, Rinoa" says the oldest of the group, approaching the pair, a young woman holding on to his elbow affectionately. "We're all safe now. We've won." He turns to the woman at his side. "Right, Ellie?"

Ellone smiles, and takes Rinoa and Squall together in a warm embrace. "Uncle Laguna is right, guys. We won. It's over." She looks up at Squall. "We couldn't have won without you leading us."

Squall blushes, and the group find themselves grinning over his lack of control, so uncharacteristic of their friend and commander. "Thanks, Sis." They hug for a second, then Squall lets go. His demeanor changes slightly, back to business. "Okay, everyone. Back to the Ragnarok. Everyone make sure that we have enough magic stocked, just in case we meet any monsters on the way. Irvine - are you still good for ammo? Good; take point with Zell. Quistis, Selphie, you're our six. Laguna, Ellone, Rinoa - with me."

"Always the perfect SeeD," Quistis jokes, and they comply cheerfully with their orders. Moments later, Squall gives the command. "Let's go."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

No monsters hindered their way. Perhaps the monsters could sense instinctively that they were not easy prey. After defeating the most powerful Sorceress of all time - and of _any_ time - this was a fact graven in stone.

And yet Squall did not relax his guard, nor did he allow the SeeDs - _his_ SeeDs! - to slacken theirs. The fighter in him craved action; the leader in him blessed Hyne for the lack of it.

What an odd duality, he mused. He would not shirk from leading his team into certain death, but he would not hesitate to throw his life away to save theirs. He would face danger stoically and stand with his... _friends_, he thought with an inner smile, but he would rather that his friends not be in danger at all.

"Squall," Zell hissed, crouching down and raising a fist. Irvine followed suit and silently cocked his shotgun. Squall made Laguna, Ellone, and Rinoa stay low; Selphie and Quistis remained standing far back, guarding the rear. Satisfied for the moment, the SeeD commander approached Zell.

"Light's a bit low," Zell reported softly, "but there are five people in front of the Ragnarok. I think that's Raijin and Fujin standing by Seifer - he looks beat down, Squall - and I think that could be Wedge and Biggs close by."

Squall thinks for a minute. "Threat?"

Irvine shrugs. "Probably not. I don't see Ward and Kiros anywhere. Stands to reason they're still aboard, boss, otherwise we wouldn't see nobody." He pushes his hat upward slightly. "Send me out, Squall."

"Why you?"

The cowboy grins. "I can go out there with my piece covering all five of them, no sweat. If things are okay, I'll put little Exeter away."

"And if not?"

Irvine stands up slowly, staying in the shadows concealing them, putting the powerful shotgun up and looking askance at Squall. "Then you'll hear me shoot, won't you?" He chuckles softly, "'Course, this time you won't hear me miss."

Squall snorts, but is obviously convinced. "Zell, bring Quistis up here for backup, then you and Selphie stay close to Rinoa and the others."

"Yessir," Zell replies, then pauses. "What about you?"

"I'm backing up Irvine." Seeing his best friend waver, Squall glares at Zell sharply. "We'll be fine, Zell. Go."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Zell never thought that he would wish to be the Blue Mage that Quistis was instead of Gaia's most dangerous martial artist.

At least, not until today.

He couldn't fault Squall for his choice of backup; if things got hairy, Quistis could torch enemies from a distance, and he was a better choice as close-quarters protection for Rinoa, Ellone, and Laguna (especially since only Rinoa was armed, and with a ranged weapon, at that). Zell knew very well that Selphie and her nunchakus were only to fight a delaying action while he got the three to a safer place, and that he was the last line of defense. Zell knew, too, that Squall was the best choice to back Irvine up if the five people in front of the Ragnarok were up to no good.

But that didn't mean he had to like it. Especially if it meant that a sorceress didn't like it either and was taking it out on him.

"Why didn't you stop him, Zell?" Rinoa hissed at him, for the fifth time in the last three minutes. The five of them stayed low, seeing nothing but the back of Quistis' crouched form... _which, by the way, is quite a treat to look at_, Zell thought. Having refused to answer Rinoa this time - not because he was distracted momentarily, of course - he bit back a curse when Rinoa smacked him on the back of the head. "Rinoa!"

Selphie chuckled. "Enough, you two. Squall knows what he's doing."

"You're as bad as Zell is," Rinoa accused. "I don't think Squall should've gone with Irvine."

Laguna's eyebrow raised a fraction. "He's our heaviest hitter. Why not?"

Rinoa was silent for a moment. "After the battle, I thought he was dead."

"Oh." Ellone whispered. "I see."

Zell saw Quistis stand up, turning to motion them to do the same. "Well, looks like we had nothing to worry about after all, Rinoa." Standing up, he reached down to help Selphie and Rinoa to their feet, Laguna doing the same for Ellone. "Let's see what's up.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Irvine moved stealthily across the debris-filled floor of Lunatic Pandora, Exeter's sights never leaving the group. He could sense Squall move to his back and off to his right, a lion ready to pounce if things got hot. His finger brushed the metal of the trigger as soon as he heard Fujin say, "SOMETHING! SHADOWS!" readying her chakram.

"Monsters, again? I'm getting tired, ya know?" Raijin complained, but hefted his galah panjang, twirling the heavy staff over his head and getting into a ready posture. "Let's do this, ya know?"

Wedge tells his boss, "Sir, we're running low," to which Biggs replies, "I know. Damn the Estharis anway."

Irvine waits until he sees Squall in the corner of his eye; he pauses, seeing that Seifer had not moved an inch, staying seated, his head and shoulders drooping almost to his knees. "Drop your weapons! Drop 'em!" he shouts, making the four turn to the sound of his voice, opening their flank to Squall.

"IRVINE?" Fujin calls. "NO FIGHT." She motions her companions to lower their weapons; reluctantly, they do.

"Yeah, Irvine, show yourself, ya know? We ain't gonna fight ya, ya know?" Raijin said loudly. "Biggs and Wedge tried to take your ship, but the big guy an' little guy threw them out, and we tried to take the ship too, to get Seifer out, but they told us to stay outside 'less we wanted to get hurt real bad, ya know? We coulda taken them, but - OW!"

Seeing the petite white-haired girl kick the big swarthy young man in the shin, Irvine grinned, thinking_ "coulda taken 'em," my butt_, he stepped out into the light, Exeter still leveled. "Call Ward and Kiros out, Raijin."

"Can't make them do nuthin', but I'll try - HEY YOU GUYS IN DRESSES, THE SEEDS ARE BACK - OW!"

Irvine grins, and his grin broadens as soon as he sees Kiros show himself. "All right, Kiros?" he calls, and the dark Esthari raises his hand in greeting. As if he were a ghost, Squall shows himself not two meters from Wedge. "Back up slowly," he commands; startled, they shuffle away, the former Galbadian soldiers off to one side, Fujin and Raijin behind Seifer, clearing the way between Kiros and Squall. Kiros moves down the ramp, offers his hand to shake; Squall takes it, nodding at Ward who had hung back to cover Kiros. Seeing all this, Irvine unlimbers his weapon, and stays to wait for the rest of their party to join them.

He notices Fujin approach him slowly, hands empty and at her sides. She offers to shake hands; putting on a roguish grin, Irvine accepts.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Ward says he doesn't think the Galbadians are any threat to us anymore," Kiros told Squall in a low voice, as they brought up the boarding ramp. "Still, I'd feel better if your guys kept an eye on them."

Squall nodded. Rinoa, Laguna, and Ellone had accompanied Selphie to the cockpit, to help with preflight procedures (Selphie blushing furiously at the idea that Laguna was to be her gunner); with orders to act not obviously as guards, Irvine, Zell, and Quistis shepherded the rest to the passenger room, Ward looming over the five other passengers silently. "It's taken care of."

"Of course, you'd have set that up from the first," Kiros said, not commenting further. As the boarding ramp came to a close and the aerospace vehicle was safely locked down, Kiros turned to Squall and said, "Enough questioning yourself. You've won. We've won."

"I wasn't thinking that," replied Squall in a monotone. His tone changed to one of worry. "I was wondering about what's next."

Kiros cocked his head to one side. "That's a very good question."

"Do you have an answer?"

"I don't have any answers. But," and Kiros clapped Squall on the shoulder, "between you and the rest of SeeD, I've every confidence you'll work something out."

They left the hangar for the elevator to the cockpit. "Thanks, I think," Squall said finally. He paused a moment as the elevator rose. "Esthar?"

Kiros' eyes narrowed. "Plenty of rebuilding to do, plenty of countries to make them pay."

"Galbadia." Not a question. The answer is an equally flat "Yes. Your father - " Squall winced, and Kiros pretended not to notice, "Laguna has plenty to worry about now."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Preflight checks okay, Squall," Selphie sang out, noticing immediately as he and Kiros entered the cockpit. "Some damage, but nothing that can keep us on the ground."

"Except for this flashing light that keeps on beeping over on the wizzo's board," Laguna chimed in. "It's annoying."

Kiros went to the offending station, took a quick look and frowned. "Laguna."

"I know that tone, Kiros," replied the President of Esthar. "What did I do this time?"

"That's an Esthari rescue beacon's signal, Laguna," Kiros said significantly. Squall frowned. "From the Lunar Base," the young man said quietly, and to which Kiros nodded in confirmation. "Selphie, pull up the coordinates and give me an ETA."

"Already on it... okay, I make it two hours away, give or take, if we push it."

"Consider it pushed," Squall replied, deadpan, eliciting a snicker from Rinoa. "Go, Selphie."

The Ragnarok's powerful engines roared. Selphie's deft piloting quickly disengaged the airship from Lunatic Pandora, and after a quick turn the heroes were on their way to the Abandan Plains.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The passenger deck was silent. Even the mechanical sounds of the Ragnarok seemed oddly muted, even more than one would expect from superior Esthari engineering.

Seifer sat alone, still hunched like a tired old man, apart from Fujin and Raijin. Wedge and Biggs were on opposite sides of the next row. Irvine and Quistis sat at the back, and on opposite front corners Ward and Zell stood in front.

To Zell's suprise, Seifer spoke first. To his even greater astonishment, he did so by saying his name. "Zell."

"Not 'chicken-wuss,' Seifer?" Zell replied sarcastically. Seifer's shoulders slumped even further, it seemed to the martial artist.

"Enough already, _chicken-wuss_," the blonde young man replied, accenting the insult, but it seemed hollow. "We know you won. We know you saved the world. It's bad enough to have been on the wrong side, but it's even worse when you.. lose." Seifer said the last word as if he would spit.

Zell folded his arms. "What do you want, Seifer?"

"A contract. A SeeD contract."

"That's rich," Zell sneered. "You want to hire us to work for you?"

Seifer looked at Zell and held the stare. "No. I want to pay you to leave me alone."

That brought Zell up short. In all his studies of SeeD, this was the first time he heard of a contract where SeeD was act to not do something, he was sure of it; having an eidetic memory, "Know-It-All Zell" was absolutely certain of it. He thought it through.

"This sounds like a bribe, Seifer."

"It isn't!" Seifer spat. "You and I both know that the only way any country will come after me is by hiring SeeD; nobody else can take me down. You and I both know that any country could decide to come after me," he said, looking at Ward, who nodded, "so I'm hiring SeeD before they do. I can take care of myself against anybody from any country, so all that's left is for me to make sure you don't come after me. I don't need your protection, I don't want your protection. I just want to be left alone."

"You don't have the Gil to hire us for anything," Quistis scoffed. Seifer sneered at her.

"You don't know everything, Instructor." Seifer looked back at Zell. "I'll give you Galbadia Garden."

Irvine smirked. "G-Garden ain't for you to give away."

"Yeah? Well, try this on for size, cowboy: after you won that battle, everybody ran except me - "

"And me an' Fujin OW!" Fujin slapped Raijin for his interruption, and Seifer continued, "... and we piloted G-Garden to a secret place. I still have the command codes. Nobody can find it until I let it be found; nobody can use it until I use the command codes."

That brought up the SeeDs short. A Garden - a low-flying ship the size of a small town - was built on a former Centra mobile shelter; while Balamb Garden (the SeeD headquarters) was by itself huge, Galbadia Garden was much larger. Between getting three operational Gardens - Selphie, everyone knew, was going to make sure that Trabia Garden would be rebuilt to better than it was before it was heavily damaged by the Galbadia military's missile strike - and the Ragnarok, SeeD would have unparalleled mobility, something that a mercenary organization would certainly kill for.

Zell cocked his head to one side. "SeeD will refuse to accept contracts on your person, indefinitely? No protection clause?"

The blonde man answered soberly, "Yes. No more, no less than that, and you have a deal."

Ward walked to Zell, trying to intimidate the martial artist. Zell wavered a little.

"I'll take your offer to Squall."

**A/N:** Hi everyone. I know that it's been years since I touched this story, but this time I promise to see it through to the end. I've cut out the old content because they aren't yet where they are supposed to be (or for that matter, how they are supposed to be), but you'll be seeing some of those scenes again soon.

Thanks, everyone!


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